S01.E01: A Seat at the Table

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

After ditching his job at the Rand Corporation for a shot in Hollywood, Al Ruddy wins the job to produce Mario Puzo's bestselling novel, "The Godfather" for Paramount Pictures. Joe Colombo, a rising crime boss in the New York City Mafia, has a darker fate in mind for the picture.

Dropping Thursday, April 28, 2022.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Unable to see this due to not having the channel. The internet has been buzzing about this mini series. Looking forward to hearing what others here who have seen it say. 

[LoveLeigh]

On 4/29/2022 at 10:06 PM, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Unable to see this due to not having the channel. The internet has been buzzing about this mini series. Looking forward to hearing what others here who have seen it say. 

I am loving it! I am surprised nobody here is talking about it, 4 episodes are up. The actor who plays Bob Evans is spot on! I love these kinds of shows. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

This is one of the hottest shows on cable right now that no one else here is watching or commenting on. I don't get it. Audiences elsewhere are going nuts for this mini series.  I also don't get the asshat critics on RT who don't get it either. The Godfather is one of the best movies ever, one of those movies that you can watch so many times and enjoy it every time. To me, that's what makes a movie a great movie. 

[LADreamr]

I agree.  I don't understand the lack of engagement with this show.  It's so well done, and there is conflict and high stakes all over it, as well as amazing acting.  Giovanni Ribisi isn't a surprise, because he's always been great, but still... just wow!  And even though we know it turns out fine, seeing the process, hurdle after hurdle, and how they navigate them, has been great.  

[millennium]

I have watched approximately 15 minutes of this show and can't get over how insultingly cliche it is.   Mario Puzo's being threatened by loan sharks, so he goes home and in the space of two minutes his wife talks him into writing about the Mafia, literally telling him what to write?  Ninety seconds later he has the whole story worked out and they dance around the room?   Albert Ruddy has zero experience in television, but he walks into a meeting with William S. Paley and the board of CBS, jumps up onto a table and pitches Hogan's Heroes like he's in a scene from The Producers?     Painful to watch.   I may continue in the hopes it gets better, but jeez, this is terrible so far.

ETA:  I lasted 47 minutes.   This is really, truly awful.

Edited May 9, 2022 by millennium

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Props to Hogan's Heroes, that series has proven itself for over 55 years to bring countless laughs to the world, no matter how you look at it. Sad what happened to Bob Crane, the guy was golden in this series.  Comedy can sometimes be created from the worst of situations,amazing that "The Producers" was made ,but hey, it became a HUGE hit and is still around on stage at times. 

[LoveLeigh]

On 5/9/2022 at 4:22 AM, millennium said:

I have watched approximately 15 minutes of this show and can't get over how insultingly cliche it is.   Mario Puzo's being threatened by loan sharks, so he goes home and in the space of two minutes his wife talks him into writing about the Mafia, literally telling him what to write?  Ninety seconds later he has the whole story worked out and they dance around the room?   Albert Ruddy has zero experience in television, but he walks into a meeting with William S. Paley and the board of CBS, jumps up onto a table and pitches Hogan's Heroes like he's in a scene from The Producers?     Painful to watch.   I may continue in the hopes it gets better, but jeez, this is terrible so far.

ETA:  I lasted 47 minutes.   This is really, truly awful.

LOL but it is a true story.....

[millennium]

But they played it so broadly, like a 1950s comedy ... plus Miles Teller is a shitty actor.  I haven't been back.

[SnarkShark]

On 5/7/2022 at 7:58 AM, LoveLeigh said:

I am loving it! I am surprised nobody here is talking about it, 4 episodes are up. The actor who plays Bob Evans is spot on! I love these kinds of shows. 

Half the work with Evans is the voice/expressions he uses.  

On 5/9/2022 at 3:22 AM, millennium said:

I have watched approximately 15 minutes of this show and can't get over how insultingly cliche it is.   Mario Puzo's being threatened by loan sharks, so he goes home and in the space of two minutes his wife talks him into writing about the Mafia, literally telling him what to write?  Ninety seconds later he has the whole story worked out and they dance around the room?   Albert Ruddy has zero experience in television, but he walks into a meeting with William S. Paley and the board of CBS, jumps up onto a table and pitches Hogan's Heroes like he's in a scene from The Producers?     Painful to watch.   I may continue in the hopes it gets better, but jeez, this is terrible so far.

ETA:  I lasted 47 minutes.   This is really, truly awful.

Also, go read the bio section of Albert S. Ruddy's Wikipedia.  They took certain key things about his story, but totally altered others.  It's just weird.  😆

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_S._Ruddy

I guess the screenwriter really fell in love with some notion of Ruddy being a novice who just fell into this through charm and luck. But in actuality...

- He worked at Warner Bros. BEFORE Rand Corporation.  He was an art director  on a film called "The Beast with a Million Eyes" in 1955 (which Roger Corman also worked on).

- He left Rand way before Hogan's Heroes, working for Universal as a TV writer,  then made a film called "Wild Seed".

-THEN he co-created Hogan's Heroes.  And in fact did NOT leave,  but was involved the whole six seasons.   He produced TWO more theatrical films before The Godfather, not just the one they showed (so The Godfather was in fact his fourth film--his fifth if you count a 1971 TV movie called "Thunderguys").

 

 

[millennium]

On 5/13/2022 at 11:39 PM, SnarkShark said:

He worked at Warner Bros. BEFORE Rand Corporation.  He was an art director  on a film called "The Beast with a Million Eyes" in 1955 (which Roger Corman also worked on).

I saw Beast With a Million Eyes on Creature Feature when I was a kid (UHF channel 56, Boston).

Way better than The Offer.

[magdalene]

I am watching the first episode now, loving it so far.  Matthew Goode is fantastic as Bob Evans (there is a Hollywood life for you - if he wasn't a real person they would call him an unbelievable cliche too, lol.)

I loved Miles Teller in Top Gun Maverick.  Lets see what he does here. I know that the making of The Godfather is as exciting as the actual movie. Onwards.

On 4/29/2022 at 9:06 PM, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Unable to see this due to not having the channel. The internet has been buzzing about this mini series. Looking forward to hearing what others here who have seen it say. 

What a bummer - get a free trial and cancel - you can watch a lot during a trial week. That channel also has Yellowstone, Startrek: Strange Worlds etc. Hope you get to watch it somehow.

[PotterOtherP]

It was fun to see actors playing Francis Ford Coppola and Brando and other familiar figures, but unfortunately the main character is an unlikeable douchebag, and even worse, he's boring. Was it in Ruddy's contract for this that every character has to mention what great big balls he has? That got really tiresome, along with his general idiocy and pointless dickishness to the women in his life who have no other motivation than to be around him and help him.

The Godfather is one of the best-selling books in US history. Why was it such an ordeal to make a movie out of it? Maybe because the producers were incompetent idiots?

[AuntieDiane6]

On 6/30/2022 at 5:07 AM, PotterOtherP said:

The Godfather is one of the best-selling books in US history. Why was it such an ordeal to make a movie out of it? Maybe because the producers were incompetent idiots?

It's pretty much explained in The Offer:  Italian American organizations protested that it was stereotypical, Frank Sinatra thought the character of Johnny Fontaine was based on him and was furious, Paramount was going broke and had the movie on a tight budget which upset Coppola, the studio wanted Robert Redford to play Michael Corleone and thought Al Pacino had no charisma, they forced Coppola to hire James Caan for Sonny, everybody worried that Marlon Brando would walk off the set at any minute.  

I'm finding the series FASCINATING.  

[gaPeach]

I came across this series and was hooked from the beginning.  I think it is very entertaining even knowing a lot of it is "Hollywood upped".  Love all the characters, especially Bob Evens.  

I too am surprised there is not more comments on each episode.  I haven't finished yet but will watch until the end.

I did notice they do not show any of the scenes they are shooting.  Why?  Copyrights?

[Sarah 103]

On 6/30/2022 at 5:07 AM, PotterOtherP said:

The Godfather is one of the best-selling books in US history. Why was it such an ordeal to make a movie out of it? Maybe because the producers were incompetent idiots?

Casting and real life issues with organized crime would be the biggest reasons why it was so difficult. It you really want to know more about it, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather by Mark Seal is one of the absolute best production histories I have ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the movie. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I had totally forgotten about this and finally came across it last night.

I already know the trials and tribulations, threats, compromises that Ruddy and Coppola  had to make to get this great movie made.

But I can't STAND Miles Teller. And I'm just rolling my eyes. But I do want to see how much Hollywood deviates from what Coppola, Ruddy, and others have already said in the making of and behind the scenes stuff I've already watched-from the horse's mouth, if you will.

I love Matthew Goode, but GOOD GOD, that nasally sounding Evans is making my ears bleed. I just want to mute him whenever he opens his mouth.